TODAY'S TOURBUS TOPIC: THE VIRUS SOLUTION

Like an unwelcome winter storm, a new email virus has swept scross
the Internet this week. Some call it M-y-D-o-o-m, others have dubbed
it N-o-v-a-r-g. (I've spelled it out because many overzealous spam
filters would otherwise zap this message.) Read on to find out why
you don't have to worry about this or other email-borne viruses.

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR COMPUTER FROM VIRUSES

I have an unorthodox strategy for dealing with computer viruses. It
doesn't involve the use of firewalls or anti-virus software. But if
everyone understood the simple virus safety tips I'll outline here,
the virus writers would get very bored very quickly.

Sooner or later you WILL receive an email that contains a computer
virus. Perhaps you got one today with M-y-D-o-o-m attached. But if
you understand a few simple concepts about email and viruses, there
is really nothing to worry about. I've been using email for twenty
years, and I receive hundreds of messages daily. Even though I get
viruses in my inbox every day, I've NEVER been affected by one.

If you take a few minutes to read and apply the following concepts
to your own email handling, you can have the same protection and
peace of mind without buying any expensive anti-virus software.
(There ARE some good reasons for having anti-virus protection, and
I'll mention those later.)

FACTS ABOUT COMPUTER VIRUSES

If you keep your email software updated, you CANNOT get a virus just
by opening or reading your email. This is true even if your Cousin
Vinny has a friend who swears it happened to his neighbor in a major
city, and his wife was abducted in a mall parking lot. Many widespread
virus hoaxes have circulated the Net for years, claiming that if you
open an email with a certain Subject line, then untold horrors will
beset your computer. It's just not true.

A virus cannot leap out of your inbox and infect your computer without
some help from you! Here are some facts you should know:

+ Some emails have attached files, in addition to the message body

+ Email attachments can be good (photos, music) or bad (a virus)

+ It is safe to open and read the message body of ANY email, even
if that email has an attached virus.

[ NOTE: Before you write to tell me that some viruses can be activated
simply by opening an email, PLEASE remember I said "IF YOU KEEP YOUR
EMAIL SOFTWARE UPDATED." If you have an old, unpatched copy of
Microsoft Outlook, then all bets are off. ]

In order for a computer virus to affect you, it requires some explicit
action on your part. Let me explain with an analogy: Imagine someone
has mailed you a loaded gun. You can't get hurt just by looking at
your mailbox. You can't get hurt just by taking the package out of
the mailbox. You CAN get shot if you take the gun out of the package,
aim it at your head, and pull the trigger.

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF

So what is the "explicit action" required to activate a virus that
arrives in an email attachment? It's as simple as clicking on the
attachment. Depending on your email program, this will either save
the file to your hard disk or activate the virus immediately. It
really is that simple... don't click on attachments and your inbox
will be safe from computer viruses.

How can you tell the difference between good attachments and those
that contain a virus? In some cases, you can't. Anti-virus software
may help, but if the virus is very recent, your anti-virus package
may not be able to detect it. Case in point: The recent S-o-B-i-g
and M-y-D-o-o-m viruses infected thousands of computers worldwide
in just a few hours, even though they had anti-virus software.

Here are some practical tips to help you decide whether or not to
open an attachment:

+ If you get an email with an attachment from someone you don't
know, delete it. You don't take candy from strangers, and you
should behave the same with email attachments.

+ If you get an email with an attachment from a friend, don't
assume it's harmless! Many viruses spread by automatically
sending themselves to the addresses found in the victim's
address book, and they often include something in the message
body that looks like a personal message from your friend.

+ Unless you are very computer savvy, and you can tell for sure
from the name of the attached file that it's not a virus, then
CALL or EMAIL your friend and ask if they meant to send you
an attachment.

+ If they say no, then obviously you should delete the message
and let them know THEY are probably infected with a virus.

+ If they say yes, AND they can explain what it is (photos of
the family picnic, etc.) it should be safe to open the attachment.

SEMI-TECHNICAL NOTE: Take care when checking the filename of an
attachment as a guide to whether or not you should open it. The
standard (bad) behavior of Windows is to hide the file extension (the
last three characters) when filenames are displayed. Some virus
writers take advantage of this and create files with names such as
HAPPY.JPG.EXE, which will display as HAPPY.JPG. It appears to be a
harmless JPG (photo) file, but is really a nasty virus.

To force Windows to display the entire filename, open My Computer
then click on Tools/Folder Options/View (on some systems, click on
View/Folder Options/View) then UNcheck the "Hide file extensions
for known file types" option. But even this may not be enough. Uzi
Paz explains in much greater detail in his "Security and Filename
Extensions" article how Gatus of Borg has deigned to hide certain
file extensions even when they are supposed to be unhidden; along
with instructions for revealing ALL potentially harmful file
extensions, without using run-on sentences or improperly-placed
punctuation marks, here:

IN A NUTSHELL

If you remember nothing else about computer viruses, try to keep
these three facts in mind:

+ You can't get a virus just by reading your email.

+ A virus cannot attack without your help.

+ Never open an attachment unless you're sure it was sent on
purpose, and the sender can explain what it is.

AM I ANTI-ANTI-VIRUS?

Am I saying that anti-virus software is useless? For many people,
yes! If you follow the guidelines in this article, and you handle
only attachments that contain photos, anti-virus software is a
waste of money and can make your computer slower and less reliable.

If you deal with word processor files or spreadsheets, if you
download software, use a "file-sharing" program such as Kazaa,
your computer is shared by others (especially children) who are
prone to clicking, opening or downloading almost anything, despite
repeated warnings, threats and knuckle-whacking, or if you have a
nagging suspicion that Cousin Vinny might be right after all...
then you SHOULD use an anti-virus program.

I don't discount the fact that people do make mistakes. If using
anti-virus software makes you feel safer, if you understand that it's
not a GUARANTEE to keep you safe, if you don't mind spending the
money, then maybe it's right for you. You can find a bunch of popular
anti-virus packages here:

But be aware that it can only protect you from the viruses it KNOWS
about. I've heard from LOTS of people who faithfully kept their
anti-virus software updated, but they still got a virus because of
careless email handling.

You should also check for email, browser and operating system
software updates at least once a month. (If you use Windows, you
should have Windows Update take care of this automatically.) Older
versions may have security flaws that allow unauthorized access to
your system. Here are some links that may help you to find new
versions, upgrades or security patches:

I understand that some people will disagree with my advice about the
best way to protect yourself from computer viruses. But I believe
that education is the key, rather than software that gives a false
sense of security.